My gentleman friend and I are currently working on costumes based on the movie “The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou” for us to wear at DragonCon. (I thought I might like to call him my gentleman friend until I figure out what I prefer. Boyfriend is blah. Besides, gentleman friend is what the little old ladies at my grandmother’s fancy retirement community call their boyfriends because the term boyfriend sounds really silly when applied to an 80 year old man. I thought I’d borrow the endearment and try it on for a little while.)

Well, anyways, the specifics of the project: The yarn is basic, boring Red Heart, but the result gets the point across. Seafarer beanie in red? DONE! Now, I only need to make 3 more. These costumes will actually be fun to wear as they will not be binding, nor will they require any makeup, mask, helmet or prop and we can wear tennis shoes!

Next Up: Another “Amanda’s Squatty Sidekick.” I know. I’m on my third in as many weeks. I really don’t know what is wrong with me. I also am working on have started and placed in a ziploc buried in a basket- a Rowan Tumbling Blocks Pillow in Intarsia (why? because I I’m a bit of a masochist? Probably, but more so I just feel like I should) and I the dreaded baby socks – I should probably finish before the baby gets too big, so I guess I’m just making felted bags because they make me smile, to procrastinate, to have that fresh-finished-feeling every day and if I mess them up it really doesn’t matter in the end.
Teaser: Now, guess what I’m making with these? (Sssssssssh. A special surprise for Jack’s 30th Birthday next week! More progress photos to come.)

It felted almost immediately to the perfect size. I put it in the dryer and zapped it for about 20 seconds to “inspire” the drying process. It was still relatively damp when I went to bed so I couldn’t wrap it as planned, but I had a gift bag that did the job perfectly. I know that I say that I won’t ever wait until the last minute again, but it always seems to happen. I’m in the middle of a pair of socks for a baby girl. Actually, she is a twin, so I should really make two pairs of socks, but you know what? I don’t like making socks. I knat on this project on the way to and from Memphis and made one stinking sock and the beginning of the cuff of the second. The baby is teensy, so I went down a needle size to 00 (I know, I had no idea they went down that small until recently) and I think I’d rather gouge my eyeball out with those size 00’s than finish those impossibly small and rather adorable socks.

I am currently working on some red fisherman hats for a Life Aquatic costume for me and some pals to wear at DragonCon this year. I didn’t take a photo of the work in progress because I’m not so used to the blog as a method of documentation of process.

But I do have a little more eye candy. Last week, I assisted my fella at an event for kids that required us to dress as pirates. The really good costume (Jack Sparrow) was the featured guest- the rest of us were fillers- some better than others (Foxy was an awesome Pirate- she kept stealing crayons from the kids.) My costume, however, was a hodge podge of my own clothes, and my pirate voice sounded most unfortunately more like Popeye the Sailor Man- albeit slightly less intimidating. Good times.

Such as the three cakes I made during a two week period this April:

I digress. I did just promise this would be my first (of many) bits of knitting content. Last night I pushed to finish another felted bag for my coworker’s birthday TOMORROW. The pattern is called “Amanda’s Squatty Sidekick” and I found it through Jenny (Hi Jenny) and Interweave’s Knitting Daily.

So, I was knitting away in bed (the living room had been taken over by video gaming men) and I was watching a fascinating show about Amelia Earhart on the National Geographic Channel, and I literally fell asleep while knitting the handle of this bag. I woke up with a stockinette imprint on my cheek a little after midnight and let me tell you, it wasn’t pretty. Now, I am very nearly finished, just a kitchner stitch and the little flappy thing and button, but I have to felt the damn thing and have it finished as a gift tomorrow, and I just don’t know if it will be dry by morning. Of course I could wait and give it to her on Friday. But that would suck and make it look like I waited until the last minute. Which, I suppose I sort of did, but how was I to know how much I was going to love this bag? I gave it the prototype a test run last week in Memphis and it was the perfect travel purse (see photo). It held just the right amount of stuff and fit snugly and safely under my arm while I walked through crowds of people. It is the Goldilocks bag- not too big, not too small, but just right. It is, however, made of wool. I discovered quickly in the line to get on the shuttle at Graceland that when standing in direct sunlight with a big bundle of wool under your arm it does tend to make you… moist. Or feel like you are carrying a hairy cat in the sunshine.

Well, say a little prayer to the knitting goddesses that the new bag is dry and fabulous by morning! (photos to follow.)